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LEGAL MEMORANDUM
LEGAL MEMORANDUM
TO: BossFROM: Your NameRE: Legal Liability and the Gig Economy
Legal Liability and the Gig Economy
The definition of agency law focuses on the interactions between agents and principals, or situations in which one party has the power to act on behalf of another (Loewenstein, 1). The term “agency” refers to a contract either expressly mentioned or insinuated, whereby one party, referred to as the principal, assigns another party, referred to as the agent, with overseeing a company and carrying out transactions on his behalf or in his name. The agent concurs to control of the company and provide a record of his activities.
Principles of Agency Law
Agency legislation enables a person to hire another person to buy property, work, and sell products and services on their behalf. The agent may be given permission to conduct a variety of tasks or may only be permitted to perform a limited number of tasks by the principal. Nevertheless, the agent is under the principal’s supervision and serves to convey his or her concerns, irrespective of the scope of the principal’s power (Loewenstein, 1). More significantly, principals are responsible for the results of the activities they instruct the agent to take. Therefore in the event an accident takes place and an agent is injured in the line of duty, the principal is held responsible. In the said scenario of Widgets ride sharing business, the agency is implied since there is no policy for hiring or checking the backgrounds of the drivers. The drivers however carry out their work on behalf of Widgets. The drivers have severally had accidents and one of them was arrested for drunk driving. Widgets is responsible for all the actions carried out by the drivers. He should therefore pay for the damages caused by the drivers and pay bale for the arrested driver. In his own interest, Widget should ensure that the drivers are not involved in activities such as accidents or drunk driving to prevent him from having to cater for the expenses caused.
Scope of Employment
The law term “scope of employment” frequently comes up in civil litigation, particularly in matters involving workers’ compensation and injury to an individual. The set of tasks and behaviors that a worker is obviously required to execute as part of their work is commonly referred to as the scope of employment (Thornthwaite, 2). The worker must be actively involved in or concerned with the advancement of the boss’s activities or company. Whether a task is carried out on the boss’s property or elsewhere, it may nevertheless fall under the definition of an employment-related task. Individuals who sustain an injury or become disabled while performing their employment are protected by workers’ compensation legislation. In an effort to reduce the frequency of litigation, the statutes offer predetermined payout to the affected workers. Additionally, these rules give insurance to the relatives of employees who pass away from diseases or injuries related to their jobs (Thornthwaite, 2). In this case, there was no policy put in place when Widget was employing the drivers. The drivers have however been involved in accidents in the line of work. Since the accidents took place in the scope of employment when the drivers were working for Widgets, they were entitled to work compensation if any of them got injuries from the accidents.
Agents acting as Employees Vs Independent Contractors
An individual must behave in a manner that demonstrates the necessary control for them to qualify as an agent. Without sufficient control, they will be classified as an independent contractor instead (Redfearn III, 3). The principal is not responsible for the conduct of the independent contractor, although the principal could potentially be responsible for the activities of an agent, which is the main distinction between an agency and an independent contractor. An agent is under the principal’s supervision, but an independent contractor nearly always has complete discretion. Accountability for the agent’s acts is more reasonably assigned to the principal because of the principal’s authority (Redfearn III, 3). An independent contractor mostly has his or her business of his or her own but offers services to the principal on contract basis. The independent contractor in most instances has more than one principal who act as clients to him or her. In this case, Widgets has employed the drivers to work for him in the ride sharing gig business. However the drivers may operate as independent contractors since they may have other principals apart from Widgets.
Agents committing Intentional Tort Vs Negligence
The performer’s mental state is the primary distinction between an intentional tort and a negligence allegation. Even when a negligent individual had no intention of hurting anyone, they could still be made accountable because of the damage they caused. On the other side, intentional torts happen when someone purposefully does something that causes damage to another individual (Yektaei & Suleimani, 4). Numerous intentional torts, such as violence, rape, malicious prosecution, deliberate infliction of distress, invasion of private property and reconfiguration, are acknowledged by the majority states. In Widgets case, if the drivers’ accidents were proven to be due to negligence, any third party who incurred damages and pressed charges would not have a court case. However, the driver arrested due to drunk driving is likely to have a court case against Widgets since it was an intentional tort. The driver knew that drunk driving can cause accidents yet he or she went ahead to drink and drive.
Recommendations to Widgets Business
There are a number of recommendations I would suggest to Widgets so as to limit legal exposure related to driver conduct. First and for most I would recommend that he gets a hiring policy so as to ensure that he hires certified drivers who are up to the task. Widgets should also offer training and workshops from time to time for the drivers. The drivers should also sign a liability waiver claiming that Widgets is not liable to any injuries incurred in the line of business. All these recommendations will reduce the chances of having accidents and the drivers will be more accountable of their actions as they work for Widgets.
Sources
Loewenstein, Mark. (2017). Agency law and the new economy. P 1009-1046. Retrieved from https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2071&context=articlesThornthwaite, Louise. (2016). Chilling times: social media policies, labour law and employment relations. P 332-351. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1744-7941.12074Redfearn III, Robert. (2016). Sharing economy misclassification: Employees and independent contractors in transportation network companies. P 1023-1056. Retrieved from https://www.btlj.org/data/articles2016/vol31/31_ar/1023_1056_Redfearn_WEB.pdfYektaei, Saeid, and Hassan Alidadi Suleimani. (201)8. Role, rules and place of distinction between intentional tort and negligence tort in tort law. Retrieved from http://journals.uran.ua/visnyknakkkim/article/view/175176
Legal and Unethical Conduct
Legal and Unethical Conduct
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Course Name and Code
Professor’s Name
Date
Legal and Unethical Conduct
Legal and unethical conducts are acts recognized by the constitution as legal but deemed unethical by the community. Deeming the act unethical is based on the act’s inability to secure an individual need like privacy. Therefore, the paper discusses the unethical behavior of T-Mobile Company by sharing customers’ personal information and determining where the laws of legal conduct are found. My chosen company that has engaged in legal but arguably unethical conduct is T-Mobile. T-Mobile practiced unethical but legal conduct by subjecting the customers to share their data with the unnamed advertisers. In April 2020, T-Mobile announced its merger with Sprint to form an organization that provides technological goods and services to consumers. The provision of the service announcement entails using customers’ devices and web data to encourage third-party advertisement. The 102 million customers were advised to share their data with the unnamed advertisers (Morse, 2021). The act of sharing personal data is legal in the United States of America but unethical. Notably, selling customers’ personal data is unethical because customers require data privacy that protects their personal information and browsing data. Also, data may associate the identity of the customers with an individual with the customer who did not choose to share the identified data, leading to harm like discrimination, loss of privacy, and stigmatization (Morse, 2021). Furthermore, it is unethical if the company fails to provide data security to the customers by sharing the data information with a third party for advertisement. The third-party may take advantage of scrutinizing the life of the customers leading to a loss of privacy.
The legal conduct laws in the United States of America are found in the United States Constitution, state and federal statutes, case laws, and administrative regulations. As such, the purpose of the law identified in the chapter reading gets based on defining the minimum standards designed by the governments and the constitution to assist the legal practitioners and the regulatory bodies in determining the cases in which the conduct in question falls (Issacharoff, & Morrison, 2018). I agree with constitutional regulations that the conduct may either fall within or outside the remit of the professional conduct. Furthermore, the business executive should look at the constitutions to find the laws that govern their business.
References
Issacharoff, S., & Morrison, T. (2020). Constitution by Convention. Calif. L. Rev., 108, 1913. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/calr108§ion=50Morse, J. (2021). How to stop your cell provider from sharing (some of) your data. Mashable. https://mashable.com/article/how-to-stop-tmobile-att-verizon-from-sharing-my-data
Lefebvre’s Theory of Space
Lefebvre’s Theory of Space
Name
Institution
Lefebvre’s Theory of Space
Summary of Henri Lefebvre’s Theory of Space
As one of the great contributors toward the understanding of space, Henri Lefebvre provides some significant explanations regarding the production of space. Precisely, Lefebvre presents a stance that supports the coexistence of spatial and social oppositions despite the presence of apparent differences. Thus, Lefebvre offers an approach of abstracting and communicating a mended coherence between the opposing elements to ensure that the link between practice and abstract is sustained. Therefore, Lefebvre presents a relatively complex explanation of the production of space by linking it to the social aspects of society.
According to Lefebvre, space is a product that cannot be separated from its modes of production with regards to unique spatial practices of a given culture. Thus, each society has its space that is attained through different modes of production. Besides, Lefebvre asserts that place and time play vital roles in explaining how modes of production make space concrete rather than an abstract. Also, Lefebvre suggests that the meaning of space may vary from one society to the next due to the differences in modes of production. Thus, Lefebvre claims that that space refers to ‘social space.’ As such, Lefebvre explains social space using three perspectives, namely, representational space, representation of space, and spatial practice.
Spatial Practice
Spatial practice, according to Lefebvre, entails production and reproduction that are shaped by times and locations when such events occur. Subsequently, spatial practice attracts a certain degree of spatial and social cohesion while encouraging continuity of particular production and reproduction activities in a given society. As an example of social practice that is not conceptualized before experiencing, Lefebvre asserts that spatial practice is concrete. Therefore, spatial practices could elaborate on political aspects, as evidenced by the Roman domination during ancient times. Thus, the cohesion aspect is crucial since it dictates the degree of performance and competence at a particular social space, as well as the connection of every individual to such a space.
Representation of Space
Representations of space refer to the conceptualization of lived space with the consideration of what was perceived and attained. Thus, representations of space act as the dominant space in a given community because it elaborates that space is an abstract. Even so, Lefebvre asserts that representations of space serve as operating grounds for architects who are engaging in the production of a particular type of space at a given place and time. Hence, the dominant representation of space that significantly influences the production of space exists in every context.
Representational Spaces
The final section of Lefebvre’s triad, representational spaces, refers to complicated symbolisms, which could be coded or not, that are connected to the concealed aspects of art, religion, and social life. Representational spaces are what human beings’ imaginations strive to alter and appropriate because they are passively experiencing. Hence, representational spaces rely on the symbolic use of elements in the physical space. Besides, Lefebvre asserts that this type of perspective attracts the most important symbolic spaces for residents of a given area, such as a particular village rather than the whole nation because they are linked to the history of an individual and their community. Hence, representational spaces dictate boundaries of a locality such as a playing field, graveyard, or village church.
Overall, Lefebvre does not provide an operative theory on how to establish a space. Besides, Lefebvre does not offer prototypes, typologies, or models of spaces. Instead, Lefebvre offers a complicated explanation of the production of space that does not provide particular results since he sees system-building as a way of straightforward expression of reductionism, abstraction, and power. Also, Lefebvre suggests the possibility of counter-spaces, counter-proposals, and counter-projects without specific results. As a result, Lefebvre’s ideas have lasting generative capabilities since it triggers interested communities and individuals to invent strategies for establishing specific results (Coleman, 2014).
Parallels between Lefebvre’s Theory and James Turrell’s Within Without, 2010 Installation
While Lefebvre presents a non-operative theory, Turrell’s installation offers a practical approach that scientists can implement to determine and understand space.
Lefebvre’s theory does not provide guidelines and advice on how artists can accomplish particular design tasks. On the opposite, Turrell’s installation presents detailed approaches through which artists can develop particular designs for influencing space.
Lefebvre’s theory presents complex explanations of how space is produced but does not suggest any specific results. On the contrary, Turrell’s installation adequately elaborates on what space is with particular results.
Lefebvre asserts that space means social space that is described through three perspectives that entail representational space, representation of space, and spatial practice. On the other hand, Turrell’s installation shows that space is an abstract aspect that can be elaborated with the use of light.
While Turrell relies on light to experiment on what space is, Lefebvre uses the Roman community to elaborate on how society produces space.
According to Lefebvre, an individual or community could generate social space through mental processes. On the opposite, Turrell’s installation suggests that the Ganzfeld effect leads to the formation of space (The Conversation, 2015).
According to Turrell’s installation, the formation of space depends on an individual’s current experiences. On the opposite, Lefebvre claims that the formation of space is a community as well as an individual process.
Discussion Questions
Why did the first-century BC Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (famously known as Vitruvius) outline Lefebvre’s earliest spatial code?
Response:
Lefebvre’s thinking always revolves around concrete and practical aspects.
Why does Lefebvre assert that space is a product because it is producible and reproducible?
Response
Since space is the outcome of unique spatial practices of a given culture and is inseparably linked to the ways of generation, they act as products that a community can produce and reproduce.
How does Lefebvre’s theory elaborate on political space?
Response
According to Lefebvre’s representations of space explanation, a prevailing representation of space that will significantly dictate generation of space always occur at any given context, including political settings.
References
Coleman, N. (2014). Lefebvre for architects. Routledge.
The Conversation. (2015). Experiments with light: James Turrell dazzles at the NGA. The Conversation. Retrieved 28 April 2020, from https://theconversation.com/experiments-with-light-james-turrell-dazzles-at-the-nga-35677.